A little over a year ago, I wrote a story on the Arms Tech Recon Rifle. Well, in early November 2002, I got to shoot Arm’s Tech’s Compak-16 select-fire subcarbine/SBR (Short-Barreled Rifle), which is basically a shortened version of the Recon Rifle.

I actually had a lot of fun shooting ths gun. Ideally, I would have liked to put at least 300-500 rounds through it. As it happens, I was only able to fire about 3 or 4 fully-loaded 30-round magazines through the weapon. I did not experience any malfunctions whatsoever during my session. Felt-recoil on the Compak-16 was…

about what you’d expect for a 5.56mm subcarbine. Since I was nursing a bad left ankle that I did not want to put my weight on, I was not able to use as aggressive a forward stance as I would have liked, while running the gun on full-auto. You may notice this in the video.

The Arms Tech Compak-16 SBR/Subcarbine reportedly achieves higher velocities out of its short barrel than other SBRs, due to the barrel’s "progressive gain twist" rifling, a feature that’s proprietary to Arms Tech weapons, from what we understand.

Cyclic rate on the Compak-16 subcarbine is 550-650 rpm, depending on the customer’s requirements. Barrel twist is 1:9. Arms Tech is now offering a compact suppressor for the Compak-16 called the MD-556/02, which, according to the company, is "optimized for any 5.56mm weapon system.

If the reader downloads and views the video accompanying this story, he/she should take notice of the EOTech 552 Holographic Diffraction Sight mounted on the Compak-16 I’m firing. The EOTech 552 is one of my two favorite optical rifle sights, the other being the Aimpoint CompM2. IMO, the EOTech is currently the fastest sight for mulitiple target engagement in CQB scenarios.

DefRev will be adding an addendum to this story very soon containing a link to a scan of Arms Tech’s brochure for the Compak-16. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the video of your humble editor-in-chief running it a little bit.

Very Important Instructions for Downloading and Playing Videos: If you’d like to see the Arms Tech Compak-16 subcarbine video DefRev recently shot at SWAT Round-Up 2002, please follow these steps, to the letter : 1) Right-click on the link to the video. 2) Left-click on "Save Target As…" inside the box that pops open to save the video to your "Desktop" or area of choice. 3) Once download is complete and the video file is sitting on your desktop, right-click on the file icon and then left-click on "Play" inside the box that’s opened up. This should automatically launch your Microsoft Windows Media player so you can watch the video you’ve downloaded(at this time, we’re not sure that Apple users will be able to view it). Currently, you cannot view these videos using Quicktime or RealVideo. Remember, you must right-click on one of the links below to download the video you’ve chosen properly and then you must right-click again on the file icon once you’ve saved it to your "Desktop" or chosen area, in order to view it using your Microsoft Windows Media Player. This process is different from using the standard clicking method, where you click using the left side of your mouse.

Right-click here to download/save video, and watch DefRev editor-in-chief, David Crane, load and fire the Arms Tech Compak-16 subcarbine. The active hearing protection David Crane is wearing in the video is a pair of Walker’s Game Ear’sPower Muffs Quad. These muffs are extremely comfortable and worked perfectly during our range testing of various weapons at SWAT Round-Up 2002.

Click on this link to read a previous DefRev article about the Arms Tech Recon Rifle, the Compak-16’s larger brother.

Arms Tech Compak-16 Subcarbine at SWAT Round-Up 2002. First Time Video!
by David Crane

About David Crane

David Crane started publishing online in 2001. Since that time, governments, military organizations, Special Operators (i.e. professional trigger pullers), agencies, and civilian tactical shooters the world over have come to depend on Defense Review as the authoritative source of news and information on "the latest and greatest" in the field of military defense and tactical technology and hardware, including tactical firearms, ammunition, equipment, gear, and training.